"£4.20?! I'll walk, thanks."
Being involved in politics sometimes means having to make tough decisions, and that is exactly what Boris has done this week as he announced significant increases in London’s fare charges.
Bus fares are rising by an average of 12.7% with a single Oyster bus fare rising from £1 to £1.20. Tube fares are up 3.9% and the Congestion Charge fee will rise by a whopping £2 per day.
The aim is to raise much needed funds for Transport for London to refurbish and modernise London’s transport system and Bozza said that it was “essential to make this choice…rather than miss an opportunity to give London the upgrades it needs.”
Whilst it is clearly admirable to take a firm stance to ensure that there is sufficient investment in London’s transport system, it remains one of the world’s most expensive. A single underground ticket on the Barcelona Metro (a clean, functional, useful system), for example, is €1.35 (about £1.24) and a ticket opn the New York subway is $2.25 (about £1.38). In London next year it will be £4.20 – about three times as much as these other major cities.
Union leaders called the increases “damaging to London” and “outrageous” and passenger groups were “deeply unhappy” with the inflation-busting increases.
You can hardly compare the cost of the Barcelona metro with a full rate London ticket, considering it’s only complete morons who actually pay it. I would presume that anyone who travels on the Tube more than twice a year would be sensible enough to get an Oyster card, making a Zone 1 journey just £1.60, which is more in line with other major cities.